Day 3: Mohammed Ali Mosque, Egypt

So far I haven't mentioned jet lag. It's bad. I've never felt it like this before. Dizzy, nauseated, foggy in the head. We stuck it out all yesterday without a nap even though we felt like we were going to die and then went to bed super early last night, like around 9:30 p.m. Lori and I slept until 1:00 p.m. today!! Yes, that's 15 and a half hours!!! Unbelievable. And we could've slept longer. Mandy is adjusting or is just used to not getting sleep so her body is handling it okay! Ha ha. We'll see what happens tomorrow, because right now it's midnight and we have to wake up at 7 a.m. to go teach women how to make baby hats and booties on a loom. (Yes, Kayla! It's all you! You were my mentor and now I'm actually teaching it to Egyptians!) These women are family of lepers. After that we're going to go visit the leprosorium. It's gonna be great!

Besides sleeping for half of the day, we went to the Mohammed Ali Mosque in the Citadel (Al Khala). My brain is shutting down, so I don't feel like writing a ton. I'll see if I can make this quick. We got swarmed by butt-pinching little boys who wanted to take a picture . . . or two or three . . . with us. They were well-behaved at first, but then the pushing and grabbing began. They all wanted to be right next to us, holding onto our arms for the picture. Then when that was over, the butt pinching began. Oh man. Those little 12-year-old Egyptian boys are way too confident for their own good. We refused to give them our phone numbers. Now really, what are they going to do with our numbers? They're half our age, and they can only say "hello" and "Obama."

Once we were inside the mosque it was so beautiful. We were a little late getting outside and the Citadel was closing, so we hurried around back to see the rest of the fortress. The guards kept telling us in English that it was closed. Mandy had a great idea that I should only speak Spanish to them so that we could pretend we didn't understand that it was closed. And it worked! We got a private tour and the whole time we spoke Spanish. Mandy knows a little and Lori was good at mumbling and repeating. It was hilarious! We really didn't know what they were showing us, but we got to see some prison rooms and where we think they said Mohammed Ali was killed.

Then we took a taxi home and wandered around the neighborhood for a while. We went to a pet store, where there were the cutest little puppies. I wanted to hold them so badly, but their little behinds were covered in poop and I was afraid I would get a disease. Instead I played with them through the cage and got them to wrestle and bite each other. (Be sure to check out the puppy cam link to the right of this!! It will make your day.) But then Lori held one of the teeny turtles, and I knew for sure she was going to be infected with some Egyptian bacteria! Then we passed a barber shop and stopped to watch the TV. A soccer player was being interviewed about the big game today. While we were at the mosque, a huge roar came up from the city below the mosque. It was incredible. We asked where the stadium was, and the guards told us that the game was on TV! So at the barber shop, the men told us that their team had won and then we heard cars honking on the street and saw a car drive by with a huge red flag waving out the open window. I love this place!